Election results: INEC establishes guidelines and opens nationwide collation centre

The Abuja National Collation Centre for the 2023 General Election has been officially opened by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, established guidelines for the collation process as well as formally opening the centre.

Yakubu claims that the State Coalition Officers for the Presidential Election (SCOPE) are responsible for presenting the results for “each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”

He declared that he would then compile and announce the results as the presidential election’s Returning Officer and Chief Electoral Commissioner.

“I have the honour of carrying out this obligation, and it will be carried out here at this location,” he declared.

Additional regulations, in his view, included the observance of allotted seating by all accredited agents, observers, the media, the diplomatic corps, and security services.

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“Upon arrival at the collation centre, the SCOPE shall be received by the coalition Secretariat, which shall organise the order of presentation,” he stated.

The SCOPE and the REC must be invited by the returning officer to attend the presentation of the results for the presidential election.

The loud announcement of the votes received by each political party in the state, along with any reports of cancellations or places where elections did not take place, is the SCOPE that comes after the format for the presentation of results.

The returning officer then requests, if any, polling agents’ observations and remarks.

In addition, Yakubu said that the returning officer will ask the SCOPE to submit the original copy of the form EC8D.